Oh boy, you really do want to open a nasty can of worms! Hey, it's a person's property. They have the right to do with it as they wish. Even if they wanted to pile up their entire collection in the backyard, pour gasoline on it, and set it on fire! Of course, the local fire department might have a problem with that. A lot of us think it a sleazy practice, yet, we also have to remember, we have needed parts ourselves to complete our own collections or telescopes. It's a free country after all... more or less.

What we need in Washington is a new government program, The Department of ClassicTelescopes. The Secretary of Classic Scopes (a cabinet level position) would be responsible for managing the Classic Scope Polizia, who are in return responsible for enforcing price controls on Classic Scopes, as well as enforcing the rule that no Classic Scope ever be parted out, punishment being a trip to the Classic Scope Detention Center.

Or, we could just let the market handle it, and understanding this is the good ol US of A, let people do with their property what they will.

The order goes out, over secure communications lines, from the Czar of Classic Refractors, located deep in the cavernous Ministry of Priceless Antiquities. An elite special-response team, bristling with high-tech gear, sets off on a mission to the hinterlands of eastern Iowa. Their target? A modest farmhouse, with a white picket fence and a tall tree next to the long gravel driveway…

"Ouch! Ouch! Don't hit me anymore with that right-ascension slow motion cable! I"ll go peacefully- It was all Bobby's fault! It was him that accidentally sat on gramps old telescope! You're looking for my little brother!"

I recently sold a loaded 142. My first thought was to sell it with a Unihex, Duetron, eps, filters, barlows... Everything that took me three years to collect. Had it not sold in a week I'd have listed the key extras separate from the scope, mount and solar set. After a week of that I'd have been more willing to part it out.

I'd have never had a 40mm ep, Duetron, solar set, barlows and more without sellers parting out their equipment, it takes all kinds of sellers to make our economy work.

In the end it's a free country, the owner is allowed to decide how to sell their equipment and deal with or ignore comments made by people they'll likely never meet.

In the end it's a free country, the owner is allowed to decide how to sell their equipment and deal with or ignore comments made by people they'll likely never meet.

Agreed. Everyone tells you how it is worth $X, but then it sits unsold. You will almost always sell it much faster and for more if you strip off all those extra goodies you think increase the value so much. I'm not saying this is right or wrong, just a fact.

Having been buying and selling astrogear for 35+ years, there are just a few truisms that have lasting value.

Always buy the high end of any model scope or mount, when new, it will pay off when you sell.

Always buy the high end models when buying used.

Buy excellent or mint optics, don't sweat the nicks, chips, dings ---buy the optics.! Scopes and ep's. Never buy without a discussion of the optics with the prior owner. Pretty or fancy cases, rings , plates etc.... don't mean a darn thing. And If you buy just average optics, sell it fast, take a loss and move on.
I have bought average optics from used AP's, and stunning optics from 30 yr old Celestrons. For example, there are good C-11's, great C-11's and jaw dropping C-11's: They all cost the same.

Buy brands, re- selling anything home built never makes you a profit.

Prices are always a negotiation--never buy at the asking price. Never.

Buyers and sellers always --ALWAYS --- have hidden agenda's. Understand that and accept that premise. Not all deals go smoothly and not all great deals happen.

Case in point --I love Celestron 26mm silver tops eps. To me, for my eyes its the best all around ep ever produced. I have seven of 'em. And I overpay when I see one that really interests me. My agenda means a higher price for the seller.

Since 2007 prices have dropped for most name astrogear. but the high-end still holds it value. The "barn finds" are much more rare then 10 years ago. And the internet give folks a feel for what they have.

OK, I'm going to take the well known "retraction of statement" stance on parting out telescopes. I have recently acquired a high quality, highly collectible telescope that is missing what are usually considered to be essential components to bring about a good selling price. I'm talking about the wood boxes here. Under these circumstances, if I do decide to sell, I would probably be parting out but in as complete component groups as possible. For instance, I don't think I would dismantle the ota and sell parts (focuser, objective, finder) but sell the complete ota, with finder and etc. The mount with the tripod.

But then again, since I seem pretty incapable of getting rid of anything, as my hoarders house will attest, I probably won't be parting out anything. So, in my best Emily Litella voice, "Nevermind".

And that, dear friends, defines the difference between a user and a collector. The user isn't so worried about the box. Same thing happens, oddly enough, with TV EPs. Some simply will not but a TV EP w/o the box and stickers. WTH? Seriously? The bloody box does NOT improve the image.

In many cases that works to our/my advantage (user and tweaker here); decals, original boxes, showroom-fresh paint, all the impedimenta that can inspire something approaching fetishism to a collector, these things in their absence allow, shall we say, a more equitable distribution of gear. Thank goodness for that.

As a User, my chief concern is the optical & mechanical condition of the instrument - completeness & cosmetics are important, but not critical to me. As a Collector (and degree-holding Historian), the more doo-dads the better -- especially documentation & paper trails on the scope's provenance; and, yes, those wood cases to protect the scope when I'm not able to display it.

From what I've seen, if a Seller has the cases, then odds are good the scope has been properly stored, and is more likely to be in good operating condition; and, if the manuals, invoices, and other documentation are included, the scope has probably been very well cared for. I think those qualities contribute more to a higher sale price than just having the wood cases like any other accessory.

Believe me, I appreciate them for what they are, and for what they tell us about the scope and the prior owner(s). The last scope I bought had the original 1980s shipping box and all of the Comet Halley stuff with it. I was tickled to death. But I didn't pay extra for the shipping box, I just knew the deal was less risky because it had been preserved along with the rest.

Bob, that is a completely understandable point of view. I'm not criticizing the desire to find quality goods in something approaching original condition, only the more extreme manifestations of it (visible here from time to time).

I tend to take wet, starving orphans in off the street, feed them vitamins and photons, reconfigure their DNA, rethink their load paths, re-space their elements, and then set them loose some clear night on a few celestial splendors. I did something quite different in my earlier vocation, and the resourcefulness, discipline, and even imagination that I have learned from working on my hard luck cases is more than worth it to me personally.

I'm a little of both as well. I like to buy complete kits, in box, all pieces, although I have no qualms about putting the mount away in the box and just using the OTA on a modern mount.

But I'd also buy just the OTA. The next in-my-budget 114 OTA that comes up I will try and buy. It will mount perfectly on a modern mount--and--best of all worlds. I'll think of it as holding the part for someone who someday reds to assemble a complete kit. :-)

BTW, to clarify, I was NOT throwing stones at anybody with my last comment, and many of us can at times fit anywhere along that spectrum (user - collector). While I tend more towards the "user" end of the spectrum, I absolutely appreciate the "collector" end.

Just to name a few. And we rely on what the Seller puts in their ad, their answers to our questions, and our discussion threads here on CN. Lots of data! I try to consider as much of that as possible before setting my upper limit on an auction. I think the large number of factors is a reason why we often have disagreements on the Forum about what a particular telescope is worth...

Overriding all of those criteria is demand. Ultimately it's always the market that determines value.

Insurance value for replacement or reimbursement can follow those four indicators, plus history of prior sales, but at sale time, it will always boil down to what the buyers are willing to pay at the moment. Sale price can miss the estimated value by a long shot, either direction.

I agree, Chuck. I'm just thinking out loud, and gauging what the Forum members think about this question...

For example: I see a rusted-out RV-6 for sale, and think it's beyond hope; whereas, you may think, "I could have that looking like brand new in a few days!" Besides Users and Collectors, we have some really talented Restorers on this site, and I would think that's a factor on demand, too.